Anyone for good news?

I spent a while looking at the news - home and abroad - for something worth writing about. In all there was a feeling of sadness - friends and colleagues have lost loved ones, stories of family tragedy from nearby Cavan, and I began to wonder how life would affect people who are displaced, far from home. After some search I came across these stories reported by the UNHCR.

This is Arezoo Jalali who worked as a lawyer in Tehran, the capital of Iran. After her personal security was threatened, she was forced to leave her home at the age of 32 with her 4-year old son Shayan. After escaping to Kenya only to be deported back to Iran she finally escaped into Syria. From there she travelled to Turkey, and made the perilous sea crossing in a flimsy inflatable dinghy to Greece. Granted asylum in the EU, she found herself in Stuttgart, Germany. As she could not find work there, she worked as a volunteer at the refugee shelter where she had arrived: she won an award for her work, and a member of the prestigious Porsche company at the award ceremony offered her a place on his company's training scheme for refugees.

On this scheme, Arezoo and fourteen other refugees attend intensive German cultural and language courses as well as practical experience in the departments of their choice. Being a natural organiser, Arezoo, now 38, is working in logistics, and is delighted to be a trainee in a company where so many Germans dream of working.

Sana Dawod lived in a Damascus suburb called Daraya. With a degree in IT engineering, Sana worked for four years as an illustrator/web developer and for a children’s NGO in the Syrian capital. At the outbreak of the civil war, Sana remained with her family, but her male relatives fled when her brother was killed. She and her sister stayed for another two years looking for a missing relative. They left after hearing of his death, saying that they had lost all hope.

They joined their family in Ludwigshafen in Germany, near (70km from) the French border. Sana applied for a refugee internship (a paid poaition in Germany) advertised by a local company, SAP, on social media. Her training involved courses in integration and language as well as updating her software engineering skills. With glowing reports from her mentor on her training and her artistic flair, Sana was offered a full-time job. She is looking forward to standing on her own feet after so long depending on others as a refugee.

Nour Aldeen Hameed, a 24-year-old accountant, fled his home in Damascus for Berlin to avoid joining the war in Syria. Nour managed to obtain internships for refugees. With the help of Workeer, a German website helping refugees apply for jobs, he found a further 3-month paid internship with telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom. Last September, he started work, in the Human Resources Department, as the company’s first refugee employee. Praised by his mentor for his inter-cultural competence, Nour was assigned the task of recruiting fellow refugees for more than 100 three-month internships in departments throughout Germany. Nour could give context to Syrian education, qualifications and work experience, and in the process he found a passion for working in HR. Nour understands the importance of finding work, and that htat entails first learning the language, then completing an integration course and then looking for work.

His two years in Germany have been far from easy. After a year his asylum application was granted. Nour received his residency permit this spring, and that allowed him to start his three-year HR training in Deutsche Telekom in September. When heard he had been given the position, he said he had celebrated for 12 hours. He expressed his gratitude to those with him on the steps to this position, saying that he never took a step alone. Still living in a refugee shelter with 100 others, Nour is now looking for a home where he and his wife can raise a family.

Mahmoud Nouri Al Abdulah left his job with Syrian Railways in Aleppo when war broke out, to avoid being drafted to fight. He travelled on foot, alone, to Turkey and then on to Greece, working where he could along the way. Mahmoud had once met German signalling engineers in Aleppo and recalls being fascinated by the newer technology they used.

Mahmoud reached Berlin but without the language or knowledge of the culture was completely lost. After nine months of wandering looking for help, and consumed with worry about his family left in Syria, about whom he had no news for weeks on end, he chanced upon a retired social worker at a meeting for refugees and volunteers. She took note of Mahmoud's training and experience and helped him look for a job. Mahmoud landed a traineeship with the German Railways (Deutsche Bahn). He will be one of 12 in a scheme supported by the German government. Like the others, Mahmoud has to complete an initial internship with language and integration training as well as work experience, but then will start a three year electronics training course with a likelihood of a permanent job in the future. Now in an apartment of his own, Mahmoud is looking forward to a brighter future.

Well done to the German government and peoples - we could do with hearing more stories of inspirational leadership like this. Write in and let me know of any stories you may have come across like this, especially from the land of "a hundred thousand welcomes".